On November 9-11, Fan Expo Vancouver (FEV) 2017 is looking almost exactly like 2016, but with a slightly different guest lineup from CW’s group of superhero shows. For fans wanting an event to meet their favourite television heroes, this fact is good. The latest crop of guest announcements includes Grant Gustin, Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Neal McDonough, Paul Blackthorne and Caity Lotz.

For others craving diversity year after year, there’s always Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC) in March. Given the distance, to travel there is easy. The expense is not. I usually attend both. For FEV, I’ll be there because of The Fonz! Yes, I love Henry Winkler and all he’s done in the entertainment industry.

As for what’s in store for this upcoming event, I offer my look back at last year’s show. This article was first printed in Absolute Underground Magazine:

When Halloween is near, the only thing we have to fear is the cinematic products coming from Hollywood. Not every vision is slick and this year’s offerings feel slim. Of the five movies coming up, only one feels 100% appropriate (Insidious 3) for the season.

I can get more frights in the sequential art world. From this list, I find rereading them far more delightful and usually more frightful (in a good way).

Fan Expo Vancouver 2017 (FEV) is shaping up to be the place where CW’s The Flash stars and co-stars love to hang out. Announced to the lineup is the appearance of S.T.A.R. Lab’s resident nerd, Carlos Valdes. He plays Cisco Ramon, this series mad scientist. Well, not quite but he may one day get there in some alternate universe.

In our dimension, this talented actor developed his skills in theatre. He studied at the University of Michigan and performed in many a local musical, before joining the Jersey Boys on a national tour. His skills have not been spotlighted fully in CW’s lineup of superhero shows but the time will come. Yes, there was a musical version on The Flash, but some folks may not feel this tease of his talents is not enough.

To see Valdes together Danielle Panabaker at this show November 10-12th, 2017 will no doubt reveal more fun stories from the set. The 2016 show had Candice Patton, Tom Cavanagh and Tom Felton appearing and talking about their work, this year has the scientists, and maybe Grant Gustin will make a surprise appearance. He does appear at large scale conventions. It’s only a matter of time where the demand is there for the organizers of FEV to appear in a flash.

The Vancouver Fringe Festival is in full swing and one show I heartily recommend is SNAFU Dance Theatre‘s Interstellar Elder. This physical performance comedy has been touring the Canadian Fringe scene and I have hopes for it to continue touring in the States next. The joy needs to spread, much like how anyone can trace the International Space Station across the night sky from anywhere around the world. This presentation brings moments from PIXAR’s Wall*E to life and the pathos from the movie Passengers into a live show. Kitt (Ingrid Hansen) is the spaceship’s “sleep custodian” and she is a geriatric which adds to the irony of who is taking care of whom. Is it the spaceship or her? She did not wake up by accident.

Somebody has to maintain the systems of this cryogenic spaceship waiting for the Earth to become habitable again. Sort of like the computer animated film, humanity made a mess of things; centuries will have to pass before the planet can be repopulated. At least thirty human generations will have to pass and to see how Kitt deals with this fact drives this show. At the same time, she also carries on as best she can and weighs in on the consequences of waking up a fellow passenger to take the loneliness away.

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